J * O * Y

Are you ready for Christmas? In all honesty, I'm still working on it! ...but enjoying every minute! I dont' often have any shopping to do at this time of year...ok...that part isn't so fun...tooooo many crowds. Heck, it just takes forever to get to the stores because of traffic! My house is almost ready. I've had so many stamping projects that I am slightly behind on that part as well. Although, I'm ok with that. All the elements that the boys love are up and shining so bright.

Here's one of the projects I have been working on. I made this one for Angela...you know, Unity Angela! ;) I pulled out my Bitty Christmas Tags for it along with my sizzix pennant dies.....

Here's a close up of some of the different pieces....

One more....

I realized as I was editing these that they came out slightly blurry. Sorry about that. You get the idea. I would retake...but can't...it's not here anymore! ;)

Hope you are all having a wonderful Sunday! I am off to start my day! :)

Post you soon!

Unity Stamp Co

My Minds Eye

K&Co

PTI Kraft

Copic markers

Stamp Simply Day 10

Happy Wednesday! It's day 10 in our celebration of Sharon's million hit mark. Let's jump right in! Today is another day full of fun! More blog candy...more fun challenges...more fun ideas! So let's get going....

Anyone can play ANY of the challenges by ANY of the hostesses during our 12 days of Stamp Simply Celebrates!!! You DO NOT need to have a Blog to play — uploading your project to SCS (Splitcoaststampers.com) is not only permissible, but HIGHLY ENCOURAGED. When doing so, use the KEYWORD SSC08. Thanks!......

Leslie Miller from Running With Scissors has a fabulous challenge for us today. She is showing us how to Alter Food Packaging to turn it into a wonderfully warm, cozy, and sweet gift item that anyone would love to receive!!! And it’s something we can all easily do! I know you won’t want to miss this, so be sure to visit Leslie today!!!

I had the pleasure of creating a sample for this one today. I took this fabulous window box and added a little dsp...some ribbon....then of course a card to go along....

The paper is from Making Memories. The super cute stamp is Unity, it's called Christmas Joy. The ribbon is retired from SU.

Be sure and check out Dee's sample.

You can also head over to Joan's blog, Joan’s Garden, it's all about the beautiful presentation of soap and candles.

Tammy Hershberger - Stamp Happy - Tammy is offering BLOG CANDY today!

LeAnne Pugliese - Wee Inklings - LeAnne also has a BLOG CANDY offering today!

Thanks for coming by! I hope you get a chance to play along. These are such fun challenges that will certainly help to get you ready for the holidays.

Have a good one! I will post you soon! :)

Stamp Simply Day 8

Happy Monday! :)

It's time for another fun Stamp Simply Celebration day! :) Today is full of more 'Simply' goodness! Blog candy...fun challenges! So let's get started!

With as crazy busy as things get at this time of year we all need something quick to give. A gift for the teacher, the bus driver, your hairdresser. Our challenge today from one of my favorite friends, Julie, is to create something for just that!

Here's my thought...you need something quick! Something cute...but super quick and easy! Let's face it, if the 'gift' takes an eternity to create then chances are it will never be given...because at this time of year...who has the time!

I grabbed something that I had on hand...a little brown paper bag. Yup! Brown bagging it baby! I added some dsp...a little ribbon....a sentiment from Unity......and......


Yes, EPLS! But that is what's needed for this type of thing! I will be handing the boys one of these for the bus driver...filled with a little chocolate...and they will each get one for their teachers as well. Perfection!

Be sure and check out the rest of the sample makers for this one....
Sharon Johnson
Deb Saaranen
Leslie Miller
Joan Fricker
Barb Schram
Tammy Hershberger

Julie has some blog candy for one lucky winner who enters this challenge. Be sure and link at her blog where you have yours uploaded and if you upload to SCS please use the keyword SSC08.

Sharon also has some blog candy for you. Head over there and check our her fabu creation and sign up for that one.

Back in a bit for more. Hope you are all doing well!

A Sizzix Candy Box

Happy Wednesday!

A few weeks ago I promised a tutorial on a 'card' I made for the Stampin Up! Artisan showcase. Here's the card that I am talking about....

Well, I made one tiny little change so that this tutorial will in fact be for a 'box' but the end product is basically the same....only better.

Here's a list of supplies you will need:
1.) SU 1 3/8" circle punch
2.) SU scallop circle punch
3.) SU 1 3/4" circle punch
4.) 1 piece of plain card stock...directions for cutting to follow...I used black for the project I am going to share.
5.) 4 pieces of dsp cut 8 1/2 X 5 scored at 4 1/4 on the long side....I used SU's Ghostly Greetings for this...one piece is the orange skulls the rest are the black skulls
6.) 4 pieces of card stock cut to 8 1/2 X 5 scored at 4 1/4 on the long side...I used black for this
7.) Sizzix big mouth
8.) SU Sizzix Pennant die
9.) Crop-a-dile
10.) Ribbon
11.) sand paper/sand block

The first step would be to take your dsp paper (*supply #5 above) and fold it along your score lines. You will line this up with the small pennant on the sizzix die and run this through your machine. Sorry...this was almost impossible to photograph with only one set of hands! ;) When you have these punched out, tear along the perforated portion of the paper and then sand the edges to smooth.

Second, take the card stock (*supply #6 above) and fold it along your score lines and run throught the sizzix with the small pennant die. Do not tear the perforated lines. Put these aside.

Now take your sheet of card stock (I am using black) and score it 1/2" from any edge....

...pay no attention to the way-ward train! ;)

Now flip the sheet and line the score mark at 5 3/4"......

Score.....then line this mark up at 1/2" and cut....
Now repeat this process on the other 'side' of the paper....you will have 1/2" score lines all around your square....
Then cut the corner squares out...leaving this....

Now adhere your dsp triangles to the black scallop triangles and then glue these to the scored strips on your square above. You will then have this....


I then folded up the black triangles and glued them together. I pull the sides in first and glue...then the bottom. You will need to trim a tiny bit from one of the sides before glueing the bottom in place. This is something I 'eyeball' before applying my adhesive. Here's the box once the sides are glued....


Punch holes in the upper sides of the box and tie a ribbon through these holes and embellish/decorate to your liking. Here is my finished project....

Now had my candy gremlins not gotten into the licorice you would see how cute this is with it inside! I have none left! Did they really think I wouldn't notice they had been 'sneaking up on it' by leaving the empty bag? 'Sneaking up on it' is the way they describe this by the way. Evan was 'sneaking up on' the cookies for instance! Of course since Hayden is the youngest and still not really able to say much of anything...or even get the need for defending himself!...he's usually the one that gets blamed.


...You get this gist. Please let me know if you have any questions. If you get a chance to make one, link me up! I would love to see what you would do with it.

The stamp I used for this is from Papertrey. It's Spooky Sweets.

Hope you are all having a fabulous Wednesday! I am off to read a bit and enjoy...what I hope will be a quiet nap from Hayden!

Post you soon!

A Hip HOP...And A Boo To You!

Woohoo! It's hip HOP Thursday! This is definitely one of my favorite times of the week! Ok...the skinny on this weeks specials....

****The one penny stamp of the week is.....Trifle Sentiments with any order over $20 before shipping. This is one of my personal favs. Here's one I made with this set back in July. LOVE this set!

****Here's a list of this week's singles....1.) 'Wow' present from It's A Party, 2.) Dazzling Departure Butterfly from Butterfly Beauty, 3.) Cheery Santa from Holiday Cheer, 4.) Vintage Emblems from Vintage Blue Bells, 5.) Slim Vase from Bouquet of Blessings

****New release from Jessica Rose! This one is called Sweet ZZZZ's

****....And if this is your first Unity order ever, you get a free So & So Loves!

****As if all of this weren't enough....every order will have a mystery surprise stamp! Holy moly! I don't know what it is, but I know it will be soooo cute! Hey, it's from UNITY! :)

So moving on to a little hip HOPPING! Are you hopping yet? I am! Ok...that may just be because Hayden is grabbing my leg and trying to move me out the door! He's actually saying 'do'. That's his way of saying 'Hey you! Get me outta here!'. That's at least what his facial expression looks like!

Well, by now you guys all know that I love Halloween. It's such a fun time. One of the favorite things we do here is 'Boo' our neighbors. My boys LOVE this! Evan is still talking about how he booed the hardest house last year. See, we have a friend who was bragging that nobody would be able to sneak up on them. She had installed one of those motion animatronic thingys right by her front stoop. You know, the thought being that as soon as someone walked up, the thing would scream and the jig would be up!

Well, my son knew was very sneaky last year! I must confess I was quite impressed with him! He was only seven! He slowly walked to the front stoop and saw the thing and then walked quietly around the side and through her bushes and was able to put the bag on the door and ring the bell and run like the WIND before anyone even made it to the door! Kudos to him! He LOVES telling that story!

Wowza! Are you guys still reading??? Well, hopefully this won't disappoint....

I decided to make a 'Boo' basket this week. Here's what I came up with. I used Unity's Little Monsters set for this. Here is the entire basket....

Of course I took closeups of everything!.......

The poem.....

My little Franky candle.....

And what boo basket would be complete without CANDY! ...

Chocolate bars!!!!!.....

Supplies used: Little monsters & Worn Polka Dot Alpha, Kiwi Kiss card stock, Pumpkin Pie card stock, White card stock Papertrey, Basic Black card stock, Copic markers, Crystal effects, candel from Michaels, recycled wicker basket,...and yes that black and orange ribbon!

The only trouble with using this...there is NO WAY POSSIBLE that my neighbors won't know who it came from! When the boys saw it this morning they were ready to use it! Evan was already planning this years 'attack'! ...and five seconds after he makes it home the phone will be ringing with the neighbor calling to say 'GOT YA'!!!!

Now it's time to hop along!.....No blog candy here this week....to hop on over to....Patter Cross.

Good luck you guys! I will post you soon!

Flip Flop...Unity's Project Of The Week...

Wowza! They actually trusted me with a project of the week! Ok...don't let on that I have NO idea what I am doing! ;)

Ok...here I go trying to seem all knowledgable and stuff!

This project is inspired by Angela, Brooke, and AJ...can I get a Flip FLOP!...ok...I guess Chris and Ryan are responsible for the whole Hip Hop...but the gals turned it into Flip Flop. These guys are a RIOT!

This should be an easy one for all of you Unity stamp owners out there. You know those cute little wooden tags that come attached to your stamps? Well, we are going to make a little 'flip FLOP' book out of them.

...and here's the skinny....

Supplies needed:

1.) Printer Paper

2.) Book ring

3.) Two Unity wooden tags

4.) Red sticky tape and other adhesive

5.) paper and embellis

6.) Stapler

With me so far...told ya I was easy!

1.) Take some printer paper and cut it into strips that measure 3 X 3 3/8. Can as much as you would like for your book. Hey...I'm easy...make it as big or little as you would like.

2.) Now take a piece of card stock that measures 3 3/8 X 1 3/4 and fold this in half. This sheet will staple to the top of the printer paper you just cut. Set this aside.

3.) Now you want to embellish your wooden tags. I will play the elevator music now while you do yours. Hey, I figure you guys know how you like it. Just pick back up when you are ready....

...groovy tune, don't you think.....

4.) I covered mine with some awesome Cosmo Cricket paper. I so LOVE this paper! First I cut a piece that was slightly larger than my wooden tag...then I sanded down the sides to make it fit.

I'm using Flip For Fun....get it...'Flip'.....dork alert!

5.) I also used my silent setter to punch holes in the top of the tags...they are already there on the wooden ones. After you cover one side with your decorative paper punch the hole so that you have that for a guide with the other side.

6.) Now use your sticky strip to put your paper on one of the tags.

7.) Attach your book ring to both sides.

8.) Finish with a little ribbon...and viola!

...it's pretty close to being EPLS....hey...it's just really slapping some paper on the thing. How easy can you be!

I hope y'all get a chance to play. You know you've got those Unity tags just lying around screaming for some love! Why not put the stamps and the wood to use! When you are finished you will have a super cute little 'flip FLOP' notepad ready for your purse or car. I know I am always in need of something to write on! Now maybe I can give my hand a break! Do you know how often I write on it! More than I would care to admit!

Hope you are all doing well! I look forward to posting you soon! From convention if all goes well! Hey! I'm not going to promise that one again! I was sure that I would be able to in Chicago and we know how that went! I will promise that I have posts scheduled for the next few days. When I get back I will hopefully have lots of great pictures to share from Utah. ...I still can't believe I am going to fly! Freaking out just thinking about it!

Have a good one!

Can I get a flip FLOP!

Christmas Ornaments

Every week Unity has a 'project of the week'. This weeks hostess is Unity's guest designer for July, Elizebeth Neuman. For this challenge you were to use polymer clay to create a piece of jewelry. You can find more information and specific details here. I will talk you through my creation...although I opted to make Christmas ornaments instead of jewelry. Here goes.

Here is the list of supplies I used to create my ornaments:

1.) Unity Stamp company stamp kit Christmas Joy

2.) Unity Stamp company stamp kit Fun Night Out....wait...what's this??? I'll explain in a bit!

3.) Polymer clay...I used the 'pearl' one.

4.) Rolling pin

5.) Hobby blade

6.) Versamark graphite black ink

7.) Embossing powder

8.) Heat tool

9.) copic markers

10.) liquid pearls...red, white

11.) gold stickels

12.) wire

That's it! Yeah...all stuff I'm sure is just lying around your stamp room! ;) Ok...I was actually shocked that I had polymer clay! I bought it when I first started stamping. It was something that SU sold and I thought I would try and figure out how to use it and it's sat on a shelf ever since! Good to know I really think through my purchases!

Anyway...

1.) Roll out your clay

2.) Stamp image on a piece of scrap card stock...I of course have none since I cleaned up...I actually used a new sheet...and then threw away the rest! ***Ravengirl...once I get back from CHA and convention I will get my act together and give away my scraps! That never occurred to me! Thanks for the suggestion! I would much rather see you use them than line the bottom of my trash can! ....

sorry...got off track there....

3.) cut out the stamped image and place on your clay...then cut out with your hobby blade...this stuff cuts like butter!

4.) snip a piece of wire and bend ...then insert into your clay

5.) place on wax paper and bake in 275 degree oven for 15 minutes.

6.) Stamp image on clay and emboss as usual

7.) Color in image....

*****After reading my own instructions I think I will take a few more pictures tomorrow and post them...sorry about that. There are some steps you may want to see that are different that Elizebeth's.

Here's my final project...

...now look at that tree! Do you see how some of the ornaments look like olives! Now you see why I had to pull out Fun Night Out! How can I have the set without the martini glass!

Oh my heck! What does that say about me! ***hick

just kidding! ;)

Ok...I hope you all get a chance to play with this one. It was definitely more time consuming than a card but well worth it! I really enjoyed doing this and think this would make great gifts this year.

I hope you are all having a great weekend! I am off to bed! It's been a long day! I have so much to do before Friday! CHA this week! woohoo! I am so excited to be heading to Chicago! I am really looking forward to meeting so many of my online stamping friends! I will post lots and lots of pictures for all of you!

Hope you have a great night I will post you in the morning! :)

2 or 3???

Hey all you summer stampers! Are you feeling like the blogasphere is a bit of a ghost-town? It's making me a bit sad. So what are you guys doing to keep busy this summer? Even I...hard to imagine...am not getting quite as much stamping done! The sun is out the weather is warm and the kids just want to go, go, go!

Ok...obviously I was a bit bored today. I messed around with my blog. You know, I am on wait list to have a professional do this for me but give me to much time and, well, I will find a way to make a mess! ;) So what do you think? Three columns. I like the idea. I just think there needs to be more room. I wish that I could figure out how to make the text part bigger....wider. That's a tough one. It's not like I figured the three column thing on my own. Oh...no! I can't even figure out how to fix my email! But there wasn't any direction in changing the size...at least not specific enough for this computer illiterate!

Ok...moving on. And yes...I really do want to know what you think. And I'm not above bribery! I know...you get busy and don't really want to wait for the little pop-up to write something...I do it all the time. How about this. I am getting ready to clean out my retired SU stamps. I will draw a random number and the winner will receive a brand new, never been mounted or used, So Very stamp set. Yup...I'm a little bored! Feel free to let me have it. I like the idea but think it might be a bit 'busy'.

Wowza...I need a little something more to do!

How about a card? Well, sort of a card.... I made another one of my candy 'wallets' for Unity's release party last week. I used the new Delectible Delights for this one. I took a couple of pictures. Here they are....

When you open it you see this....

The candy bar sticks to it's side with a little velcro dot. This measures 5 3/4 X 5 3/4 inches. It's scored at 2 1/2 inches on both sides. It's really EPLS...ok...not a quickie by any stretch but not really very difficult either.

Ok...back to the mommy stuff....I really have to think of something for dinner. Since we've pretty much had hamburgers and hotdogs all week maybe I should think of something a bit more nutritous. Bummer!

Post you all soon! Enjoy the rest of your day! :)

A Little Album

Hello! It's Monday! ...and a really hot and sticky one here! This is really unusual for this area. I almost feel like I am back in Texas!

I thought I would share a little something with you guys. This is the journal I made for my sons kindergarten teacher. I used a retired stamp set from SU called Crayon Kids. I thought it would be perfect to make a blackboard and stamp the little kids on it.

Thanks for looking. This is a quick one. I need to try and catch up around here. I am so far behind from this past week. I hope you are all doing well and having a wonderful day! :)

Oh My Goodness!

Well, I actually have hit the 40K mark! When did that happen!? I just noticed as I was trying to get caught up on all of your blogs. Thanks so much for coming by and visiting me and thanks so very much for all of your encouraging words! You guys are so sweet!

Well, I am in the middle of getting things cleaned here...the place is a dump right now! Gotta take advantage during the naps! I am going to go through my stuff as soon as I am caught up and put together a little blog candy. I promise to post it before bed tonight.

I thought I would share the EPLS project we did at class the other night. This is the candy holder we made....

Thanks again for all of your support! You are all just so super sweet and I really can't tell you how much all of your kind words mean!

Hope you are all having a fabulous Saturday and weekend! :)

A Little Birthday EPLS

Hello to you all! I cannot believe it's Monday already!...and another 4AM morning for me! Hayden is definitely teething again. It's such a bummer for the little guy. He never sleeps very well during this time. It's a bummer for me because I really like sleep! I did not get a nap yesterday because he's really hit or miss with his naps. Yesterday it was only a 30 minute nap...I'm sorry...but that's not really a nap at all!

Tonight is my stamp clubs meeting. We are going to be working with pencils tonight. Love that! We are making an EPLS candy holder. This is one of my favs...why...because I love candy! hint hint! ;)...just kidding! I love this because I think they look so cute and they are really easy to do. Who knows...you may have done a version of this yourself!

How fun is that! ...and EPLS! It's really just a card wrapped around a package of Ghiradelli chocolates. I also like to use the Harry and David chocolates you can now find at Target. I love! the chocolate covered fruit. The packages are the perfect size for this as well.

Tonight we are doing the smaller version. I use that version when I am bagging loose candy like M&M's or Jellybellies. I can't really show you that picture yet since someone in my group might see it and I don't want to spoil the surprise! ;) The measurements for the smaller version are 51/2 X 11. I score from both ends at 5 1/2 and then fold the sides up. I really like using the crop-a-dial to punch a hole and use my jumbo eyelets to feed the ribbon through. That's a fav of mine. I really treat the front like a card and then make a matching little gift card to go with it. EPLS! Gotta love that! Hey, sometimes you just don't have enough time to breathe! You really need things to be easy!

I promise that I will share another candy holder with you guys that I love. It's pretty easy as well but a little more involved. I will include a tutorial with that one. If you need or want more specific measurements or info for the one on this post feel free to email and I will be happy to send it over to you.

One 3-D project...check...need to catch up on scrapbooking...do I even dare challenge myself with that...oooohh...not really ready to put a check by that yet but I'm not saying no either. All on almost no sleep! Well...maybe I'm delirious!

Hope it's a good one for you guys! Hayden just woke up. That makes it an hour and half nap! Wooohooo! I got in a little bit of exercise, a shower, and a post! Success! :)

Take care and I will post you soon! :)

A Gina K Card Swap 'Card'...

Hello to you all! I hope you are having a fantabulous Friday!

I'm just finishing up some cards for Page Plans....can't wait for this weeks reveal! Have you gotten a chance to participate in the current sketch? There is still time if you want to be included in the drawing for some goodies! ;)

I thought today would be the perfect day to share one of my Gina K card swap 'cards'. I keep putting that in quotes because this one isn't really a card at all! This was a super fun swap! We each were to choose a stamp set from the March releases and create a card using that set. I actually signed up for two swaps...but I used the same set for each. My set was the 'What's In Your Tin 2' set from Melanie Muenchinger. What an awesome set! I love it!

How excited was I when I was told it was a-ok to use the little altoid tins for one of the swaps. I had actually just purchased some of them prior to finding the swap so I was super excited! I decided to create a little container for a sick girl. At the time of the swap posting there was lots of talk about the people close to us that were sick and one of them is a little girl...ok...she's little to me! Being a cancer survivor, it was really hard to hear of her being diagnosed....chemo really stinks and to think of a anyone but especially a child experiencing that is so hard! Luckily she is on the mend...still in treatment but doing very well!

...anyway...getting a little too deep....I am going to need to go and hug my kids and play a bit with them after this post...ok...this is what I created....
When you open it this is what you see.....

Here's another one with all of the stuff out....

How fun! There's a paper doll with lots of different outfits, chocolate, a paper ring, and a paper flower. This is one of the most fun things I've ever made! I really enjoyed it! It was actually really easy as well! The 'What's In Your Tin' set has a stamp that fits this tin. Since I was using the decorative paper I ended up only using it for a template. I also used my sizzix machine and the doll body and clothes to create the paper dolls....can't get much easier than that! The ring was EPLS as was the paper flower...er, um...pinwheel....

...and that's that.

I hope that you are all having a great night! I am off to play dominoes...does anyone know how to play this game???? I can never remember...quite frankly it always ends up with the kids makinig the little rows that you knock over. Once we get to that point it's all over!

After they go to bed I am going to start working on Beate's WSC...it's another awesome sketch!...and I think I have the perfect stamp for it!

If you are interested in signing up for a Gina K swap the fabulous Joanne Basile has another swap started over at SCS. Check it out! It would be great to swap with you guys! There's only four more spots and she is going to have a drawing that will give one lucky winner a Gina K gift certificate! How cool is that!

Have a wonderful weekend and I hope to be posting my sketch card tomorrow...if all goes well tonight that is! ;)